However, German giant is in same boat as other global manufacturers still battling for supply
Its third quarter interim report shows that both Daimler Trucks and Mercedes-Benz Vans had sales impacted by the pandemic and that had been exacerbated by the shortage.
“Following the decrease in demand in the third quarter of last year due to the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, unit sales in the third quarter of 2021 were affected above all by bottlenecks in the supply chain, especially for semiconductors,” it said of trucks, with a similar message for vans.
That said, the 101,700 vehicles it sold globally in the third quarter were 8% above the prior-year level, with Asian and Latin American sales offsetting North American and European falls.
In the US, Paccar CEO Preston Feight stated that: “Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF delivered 32,800 trucks in the third quarter even as the ongoing industry-wide undersupply of semiconductors reduced Paccar’s truck deliveries by approximately 7,000 vehicles.
“Paccar expects global truck production to improve as supply chain deliveries are resolved.”
US media reported Feight agreeing that its engineers were “hustling” for supply.
“They are re-engineering different chips or taking places where maybe two chips were required and re-engineering them into requiring only one chip,” he sid
The issue was raised previously by Traton Group – parent firm of Scania, MAN and now Navistar – in September, “resulting in lower unit sales volumes.
“The shortages are affecting all brands — including the company’s new subsidiary Navistar — but to a varying extent determined by their supplier network, specifications of the individual vehicles, and customer demand.
“Each brand further intensified its measures to monitor the supplier network to be able to respond to delays and cancellations as swiftly as possible.
“Recently, severe difficulties in the supply of semiconductors have been primarily attributable to rising Covid-19 cases in Malaysia and the lockdown that followed. Malaysia is an important hub as many chip companies relevant to the automotive industry have their production there.